Assess the needs and goals of users and communities.
2.1 Assess the needs and goals of users and communities.
Libraries and archives should always be considering user/community needs and goals to determine what services they should offer. Information institutions such as these are outward facing and community focused which requires them to be adaptable to shifting needs from the communities they service. In order to meet community needs these institutions need to be going out into the communities they represent, marketing themselves as a community resource, and figuring out how their services can be best tailored to community needs. They should take the time to, as an institution, figure out how to best serve their communities.
I best show this in a couple different pieces of work I’ve done. In both my advocacy essay and my Library program for special needs Spanish language reading hour program I directly note how each program is based on my local library attempting to meet community user needs. In my teaching portfolio I note how each program I worked to create takes note of the needs of the users the class was created for. My reference scenario project for IST 605: Reference and Information Literacy Services which focuses on meeting the needs of a fictional library user, directly states user needs, follow up questions, and how I plan to directly meet user needs. It also considers how each reference provided to the user meets their information needs.
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2.3 Elicit the voices of, advocate for, and collaborate with users as community partners in the provision of information resources and services.
PLO 2.3 sees the librarian/archivist taking on an advocacy role, working in tangent with the community itself, and engaging with different community-based resources or groups. This goes beyond simply tailoring one’s services to meet community needs, but instead actively speaking up for those within the community who do not have as dominate of a voice. This can involve processes such as taking into account said community members when discussing accessible services, the library/archive offers. Information Professionals are, after all, never neutral and thus become active political figures simply by interacting with the community. All of this work is done within the framework of providing information resources and services to different groups who use these spaces. It also means celebrating differences within communities, to be accepting of others, and allow the library to be a place for all people to gather.
This is shown best in my Library Program as a key part of the program itself is to provide a space for community members who speak Spanish with very little to no English. Here I use the program to also provide a space for community services that assist families within this demographic to come and be present. This offers a chance for community members who might not be aware of such programs existing to see them and be able to get in contact with community programs that might help them.
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2.5 Use educational theory, instructional design, and assessment to develop, implement, and evaluate education, training, and programming for a variety of learner audiences.
When I think of the use of educational theory, instruction design, assessment, etc for a variety of learner audiences I instantly think of universal design and accessibility. The average learner is a myth that needs to be dispelled. Instructional sessions and programming need to be designed in a flexible way that accounts for the variety of different learning styles that students bring with them to the classroom. Knowing user learning levels, their background knowledge in different subjects, and what their interests are also key points that can help when one designs instructional sessions. This is often done through the process of iterative design which sees programs tested, implemented, and reflected upon to be improved for the next time it is used. Librarians and archivists must be aware of such practices as while they take on many different roles a critical one is of the educator.
One class I took during my time in the program was Instructional Strategies for Information Professionals which tasked me with producing two lesson plans. The first lesson plan is focused on providing basic information literacy, specifically that of how to conduct searches through the university library/archive, for first year college students while the second lesson plan focuses on the role of archives and how they can be used for activism. Throughout this process I learned a great deal about different educational theories, how to implement different activities into lesson plans to engage students who focus on different learning styles, and how to reflect upon and improve my lesson plans for future use. The final product is a document that can be used by others to teach the lessons in my place and provides reasoning for the many different decisions I had to make.
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2.2 Engage diverse users and communities with empathy and cultural competence.
To me, engaging diverse users and communities with empathy and cultural competency is simply to engage those within the library or archive space with the understanding that all people are different. People come from a great number of different backgrounds, cultures, religions, etc, all of which deeply affect people on different levels. When one engages with different patrons and different communities one should always remember to engage with them with kindness, with respect, and with their ears open.
The best example of this being conducted throughout my studies is with my reference scenario project. Here I highlight the complex background of my fictional user and attempt to work with them to find the materials they request. I also believe this is highlighted with both my advocacy essay and the special needs Spanish language reading hour program, both of which focus on assisting a diverse user and community base with a great deal of empathy and passion.
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2.4 Provide equitable, just, and culturally responsive services and resources.
To me, providing equitable, just, and culturally responsive services and resources is done through offering a variety of services to all different kinds of people. This section highlights the need for the library to move away from the older model of librarianship and instead move into a service-oriented institution which focuses on helping solve patron information needs through a variety of services. A key component to achieving this is to remind oneself of the role of information professionals as guides helping patrons reach their own information needs. This requires the librarian/archivist to conduct a wide variety of tasks to accomplish this.
For this section I believe my work in the advocacy essay, the special needs Spanish language reading hour program, and my teaching portfolio show a wide variety of services offered to different groups. The advocacy essay works to highlight ways the different libraries have offered aid to the target community group, The reading hour program works to provide a single program that is missing from the local library, and the teaching portfolio has two similar, but different ways of conducting classroom lesson.
Link to Assignments:
Learning Transfer:
What I’ve learned over the course of my degree has led me to believe the library/archive must spend the time, energy, and resources to tailor their services to the needs of the community. This involves creating spaces that provide equitable footing and aid to those who come into these spaces, as well as, providing a space patrons from different backgrounds can feel safe at. Information Institutions absolutely must not be evaluated by themselves, but instead take into account voices from the community.
Ian Murray 